Psalm 77  (NRSV)

1 I cry aloud to God,

    aloud to God, that he may hear me.

2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;

    in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;

    my soul refuses to be comforted.

3 I think of God, and I moan;

    I meditate, and my spirit faints.

4 You keep my eyelids from closing;

    I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

5 I consider the days of old,

    and remember the years of long ago.

6 I commune with my heart in the night;

    I meditate and search my spirit:

7 “Will the Lord spurn forever,

    and never again be favorable?

8 Has his steadfast love ceased forever?

    Are his promises at an end for all time?

9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?

    Has he in anger shut up his compassion?”

10 And I say, “It is my grief

    that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”

11 I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord;

    I will remember your wonders of old.

12 I will meditate on all your work,

    and muse on your mighty deeds.

13 Your way, O God, is holy.

    What God is so great as our God?

14 You are the God who works wonders;

    you have displayed your might among the peoples.

15 With your strong arm you redeemed your people,

    the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

16 When the waters saw you, O God,

    when the waters saw you, they were afraid;

    the very deep trembled.

17 The clouds poured out water;

    the skies thundered;

    your arrows flashed on every side.

18 The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;

    your lightnings lit up the world;

    the earth trembled and shook.

19 Your way was through the sea,

    your path, through the mighty waters;

    yet your footprints were unseen.

20 You led your people like a flock

    by the hand of Moses and Aaron. 

Reflection
Well. It appears to be over. Jesus died on the cross, and everyone has scattered. He’s in a tomb. It looked like such a great movement. His words burned in our hearts; he made a covenant with us; he said he was ushering in the kingdom of God, for heaven’s sake! But it’s over, and the humiliation and pain of the crucifixion was the final curtain. It’s Saturday, and it’s just quiet.

We grieve. It’s still quiet. We lament. It’s still quiet. We sit in disbelief. It’s still quiet. We grow weary of asking. It’s still quiet. Why has God gone silent?

The psalmist says, “I am so troubled that I cannot speak.” Later in the psalm, he questions God’s faithfulness with hard and messy questions.

“Will the Lord spurn forever,

    and never again be favorable?

8 Has his steadfast love ceased forever?

    Are his promises at an end for all time?

9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?

    Has he in anger shut up his compassion?”

And then the poem shifts, and the psalmist begins to remember the saving presence of God throughout the history of Israel. He remembers the miraculous parting of the Red Sea. Surely death was upon them, yet God saved them. The last verse of the psalm reads,

19 Your way was through the sea,

    your path, through the mighty waters;

    yet your footprints were unseen.

20 You led your people like a flock

    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

It’s Saturday, and it feels like the mighty waters have taken the flock down. But we know something. . . the good Shepherd is not done yet. Sunday’s coming.

Application
Take a few minutes to reflect on a situation when God seemed silent. Can you trust your relationship with God to pray messy prayers in the midst? Go ahead and grieve, lament, and question. God can take it. He wants to hear from your true heart.

Closing Prayer
Father God; Thank you so much that the Holy Saturday situation is not the end of the story. You do not stay silent forever. You chose the cross and the grave for us so that we have intimate access to you. Sometimes we feel lost and have to speak our messier feelings to you, and you not only allow that, you want that. Help us to be faithful, even when we can’t see what’s ahead. We love you, Jesus, and glorify your holy name.